No. 6 - Advice?

[Angel in Blue]

I hope this question doesn't go against the site's policy. I know CAA prohibits discussion on hentai, yaoi, yuri, etc., but the site has a review for this show up so I thought I'd give this question a go...

How is the anime No. 6?

I've read the review in CAA's section but I feel like I want an opinion from multiple people if possible. I've been thinking heavily about watching this series. I've read the summary, read the review on this site, and did a little digging, but I'm still not sure.

The biggest problem that stops me from watching is the element of boys love. I've heard (and seen a few pictures around the web) that the two male, main characters kiss twice. But just recently, I've seen some brief discussion saying that they don't love each other.

Can I get someone's honest opinion about the BL element in this show? But if this isn't allowed on CAA, then I totally understand and this topic can be removed. I'm just seriously curious.

Thanks and God bless.

[mechana2015]

I think the issue you're going to run into is that not a lot of people have seen this. The two reviewers from the review are probably the only people that can honestly answer your question.

[airichan623]

I watched it with a friend. And...the BL element isn't too strong if you're not already a BL fan. If you think every guy friendship is BL, then it's gonna be BL.

For me, I really don't completely consider it BL. One character in particular is very naive, and I really don't think understands the romantic side of the kiss. A girl kisses him and he thinks of it like his mother. He kisses a guy goodbye. Again, that's my opinion. But there isn't a pile of blushing and "OMG he likes me" type romance in here. It's mostly implied.

[jep'ray]

I agree with airichan623 about the BL factor in it, its not a Yaoi anime... there are hints to it but its like airichan623 said, hes very naive about it all... it is mostly implied but never really taken beyond that point... it really was a good anime, had my attention when it first came out.

[Atria35]

It's not yaoi. It it BL, which is reserved for titles that don't have sexual content in them (and means you can talk about it on this site).

I don't have any idea where the idea that 'they aren't romantically interested in each other' comes from. When they're kids, there is definitely an element of dislike on one boy's part, but I would equate him with a tsundere later on in the series with his affections. When they're older, they definitely like each other, though it's not a primary concern of the anime (it's not a romance), but it's definitely an undertone that runs through the whole thing.

One character in particular is very naive, and I really don't think understands the romantic side of the kiss. A girl kisses him and he thinks of it like his mother.

That's because he doesn't have romantic feelings for the girl (thinks of her as a mother-figure), not because he doesn't understand that it's romantic.

What made my rating so low wasn't the BL, though - it was just that the plot was terrible, disjointed, and the ending had absolutely no explanation to it. THAT alone should keep you from watching it.

[TWWK]

What made my rating so low wasn't the BL, though - it was just that the plot was terrible, disjointed, and the ending had absolutely no explanation to it. THAT alone should keep you from watching it.

Yeah, the general consensus is that the show was terrible. I can't say, since I didn't complete it, but I dropped it after a few episodes - because of quality, not the BL aspect.

The animation is quite nice and the setup is interesting...which is how it fools you!

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Honestly, I think anyone who is trying to deny the BL aspect of it just wants to like the show but doesn't like BL. Even before they kiss there's some pretty heavy subtext, to the point where it was hilarious because of how hard it seemed to be pandering to fujoshi until they turned out to actually be gay. That was actually where the majority of my enjoyment came from, because it was hilarious just how close they could pander without them actually being gay.

Anyways, if that doesn't bug you, I wouldn't say the show is terrible, more like average, though keep in mind that I only saw the first six episodes.

[the_wolfs_howl]

*deep sigh* I watched No. 6 this summer, and held off talking about it on here, because my opinion of this show is far from the most commonly-held one, and it takes a lot of explaining to get my point across, and even then you probably won't agree with me.

First I have to say that I'm about as far as you can get from a yaoi fan, and this anime was recommended to me by a friend I trust implicitly, who is also the farthest thing you can imagine from being a yaoi fan. It took lots of explanation and encouragement from her before I'd even start watching, because I'd heard that No. 6 was a yaoi anime.

But finally I did end up watching it, and I love it. (That's part of my uncommon opinion, I guess.) I've seen plenty of anime with far worse plots, and while No. 6 might not have the best pacing ever, I found the whole plot highly enjoyable. I dunno; maybe you have to be able to enjoy both really slow stories and really fast, action-paced ones; No. 6 sort of alternates between both. Maybe that's not the best way to go about telling a story, but I still think it's worth watching. (I haven't read the books yet, so they may do a better job with the plot.)

Here's my uncommon view of the main characters' relationship: It's not yaoi. Nezumi and Shion are not romantically attracted to each other at all. This might seem completely unbelievable since they kiss each other on the lips twice in the anime. Most people would see that and immediately assume it means they're in a romance, and in most situations like that, they'd be right. But with Nezumi and Shion, you have to look more closely to see what's really going on here. I myself had to watch these scenes several times, carefully taking note of the way they were acting, before I could come to the surprising conclusion that, even though they kissed on the lips, they aren't romantically attracted to each other.

The thing is, Nezumi and Shion have a friendship that goes far deeper than the physical. There is no sexual or physical tension between them in those scenes (or any other, for that matter). There's no lingering, no savoring of the physical interaction that is present in any romantic kiss like that. It's merely a way of one of them saying to the other, "This is how much you mean to me, that I would make myself this vulnerable and let you into my heart this far." Nezumi and Shion just have this rare friendship where they don't care about any kind of social norms or what these things usually mean. They show us what unconditional love really is, beyond any kind of romantic feelings (which are always, at least in some small part, about one's own pleasure).

I don't know if anyone on here will accept this view, but I've learned so much from No. 6. If you don't immediately pass it off as just another yaoi anime, if you don't stop at the first conclusions you jump to because of every cultural and social connotation you've ever internalized over the course of your life, you can really grow with this. No. 6 caused me to rethink everything I've always assumed about love. I hope you'll give it a try.

[Neane]

As for the ending of the series...No.6 ends the same way the novel does. Of course there a lot was cut out since it's a multiple volume series but the very end matchs up. So there won't be a second season since they cut to the chase and ended it the same way the novels end it. Yes, the novel also leaves things unanswered but that doesn't matter--once it ends, it ends.